The council tax freeze should be scrapped and rules over land use loosened,
according to an expert group examining which policies would help the
Scottish countryside flourish.

The Scottish Rural Commission, established by the Conservatives, set out 97 recommendations that had as a common theme transferring power from Edinburgh to local communities.

According to the independent group, local authorities should once again have the power to increase council tax in accordance with local needs as well as being given full control over the planning system.

Where required, they argued the special protections for Green Belt and farming land should be scrapped so sites can be used for housing, forestry or energy generation.

However, the commission was scathing about the Scottish Government’s plans to increase radically increase community ownership of land, saying there was no evidence this would be a “panacea” for rural Scotland’s problems.

Instead the group suggested that rules around the transfer of land be made more liberal so that two consenting parties can more easily agree a contract for sale.

Similarly, it suggested a more pragmatic attitude to wildlife conservation, with farmers and other land owners able to get a licence to kill species such as buzzards if required.

Another key recommendation was creating a Universal Service Commitment, similar to that imposed on British Telecom for phone lines, to ensure that every home in rural Scotland had good broadband access.

The group was chaired by Hughie Campbell Anderson, a land agent and former chairman of the Association of Salmon Fishery Boards. Its five other members included managers of land, rivers and historic homes.

Mr Campbell Anderson said: “The fact the report has taken more than a year to complete shows the enormity of the task involved with evidence received on all aspects of rural life, including agriculture, housing and planning.

“We all want to see rural Scotland flourish and we hope these 97 recommendations go some way to helping to achieve this.”

Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, welcomed the study and said she would consider its findings, including ending the council tax freeze, before deciding which her party would adopt.

Around one in five people live in rural Scotland, which makes up as much as 94 per cent of the country’s land area.

“We do not subscribe to populist statements on millionaire landlords preventing communities from fulfilling their potential,” the report stated, arguing the litmus test was instead making better use of Scotland’s land.

The group attacked proposals giving tenants an absolute right to buy, arguing this would only mean that land owners refuse to let out their property at all

Instead it suggested that the same aim of greater community ownership could be achieved using long leases or land management agreements. Alternatively, the Scottish Government could buy up land that would then be leased out.

The latter proposal was “radical”, the report said, but solved the problem that communities have no security against which they can borrow to make improvements.

Farming is a “business like any other” and there is little reason for why it should enjoy special protection, the report said, arguing that agricultural land could be put to better use.

It also attacked Crofting policy as “archaic and out of date”, stating that the practice is often a “hobby” rather than a “living”.